I was in a meeting yesterday with my beloved conservation group.

What a great program..another reason to love living in Massachusetts.

A study of tree canopy identifies parts of the city with little tree cover. Anyone living in the zone can apply for a free tree!! Homeowners, renters or businesses...and we can nominate public spaces as well.

Goal is to plant 2400 trees in the next 2 years for 5% increase in canopy in the neighborhood.

I am so happy and so proud to live here. And so excited about this program in a neighborhood that really needs some love.

MA Urban Canopy Project

That sounds really good!

Now if there's also a program to fix all those sidewalks damaged by the sprawling tree roots of older trees ...

Nice! We have Friends of Trees here; they planted our two plum trees for us. They put trees in the space between the sidewalk and the street. I think there’s a small fee; it was in 2011 so I don’t have all the details.

Our lot was bare when we moved in. One of the first things we did was plant trees. Mary Anna could tell you all the varieties, but some of them are getting big already.

You rang?

I wanted to get native trees but...um...we live on former prairie. We wanted trees anyway, so I settled on trees that grow somewhere in Oklahoma, or that were at least related to trees native to parts of Oklahoma, figuring that it's hard to hurt land that has been farmed for decades and then scraped down to clay subsoils when the house was built.

A red oak
A sugar maple
A red maple hybrid
A redbud
Two loblolly pines
A chokecherry
Two pears
A plum

Then we had landscaping done and our landscaper dude said we needed evergreens in the front yard for winter interest. The primary evergreen that grows around here is a wildly invasive cedar, so we just went with well-behaved exotics instead.

A deodor cedar
A big blue atlas cedar and a couple of small weeping blue atlas cedars
A blue arrow juniper

Oh, and we have a weeping redbud and a couple of Japanese maples, because they're pretty, especially in the spring and fall.

I just learned of a truly excellent tree planting program in my area. Volunteer help provided for a nominal fee - native trees intended to help reforesting and to increase pollination opportunities.

Part of the donations contribute to students working on projects to help with reforesting - also to arrange planting memorial trees anywhere, including the yard of the deceased.

I learned of this worthy group, while searching for help finding and planting weeping cherries but as they aren't native, this group can't help with them. I see many other options, though. Good for them! The gentleman who write back to my expressions of gratitude specified he was just an intermediary, sharing info about this opportunity - describing himself as a kind of "digital Johnny Appleseed".

Here's this Spring's list of offerings (not sure which are left to choose from amongst the original list).

I'd prefer a tree that doesn't grow more than 30' or so, ideally floral and/or deciduous and the spot I have in mind is sunny.

So, any of you have suggestions?

Summary per species. NVEC TREES & SHRUBS ORDER - SPRING 2021
Species Wetland Status. Deer Resist. Growth Speed Web Info Quantity Available, My Order Comments

SHRUBS

Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum)
FACClick15
Indians fashioned arrows from branches. Fat-rich berries feed migrating birds.

Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa )FACClick15 Stunning in masses, open habit. Brilliant fall color and black berries.

Blackhaw Viburnum (V. prunifolium)
FACUClick13 Durable and pest-free. Attracts birds and pollinators.


Red-Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera )
FACWClick15 Brilliant red stems provide winter interest.

Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum )
FACWClick15
Beautiful for border massing. Creamy flowers, burgundy fall foliage.

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin )
FACWClick 15 Citrus-scented leaves host the spicebush swallowtail butterfly caterpillar.

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata )
FACW Click 15 Bright red berries feed birds in early winter. Plant several for pollination.

Witch-hazel (Hammamelis virginiana )FACUClick15 Unique for late-fall flowers and pollen. Ejects seeds far and noisily!

SMALLER FLOWERING TREES

Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis )
FACUClick20
Unrivalled spring flower display. Flowers directly from trunk.

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida )
FACUClick20 An American classic. Sadly endangered, so plant liberally.

LARGER DECIDUOUS TREES

Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica )
FACClick15 The tupelo tree, famed for tupelo honey. Stunning fall color.

Pin Oak (Quercus palustris )
FACWClick 10 Good fall color. Keeps winter leaves. Oaks are the top-value bird and wildlife tree.

Red Maple (Acer rubrum )
FACClick10 Small red flowers give this tree a pink blush in late winter. First sign of spring!

River Birch (Betula nigra )
FACW Click15 Highly picturesque peeling bark. A favorite of caterpillars to feed songbirds.

Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
FACClick10 Brilliant fall color. Seedpods "like alien space capsules".

Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
FACUClick5 Considered by English botanists the most beautiful Colonial tree.

White Oak (Quercus alba )
FACUClick5 Good fall color. Keeps winter leaves. Oaks are the top-value bird and wildlife tree.


MEDIUM EVERGREEN TREES

Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana )
FACUClick10 Berries loved by hungry late-winter birds. Plant away from Crabapple and Hawthorn.Indicator Categories - Use the one that best describes your planting location
Indicator Code Indicator StatusFACW

Naturally occurs in wetlands. Grows best there but also well on uplands

FACFACU Spring 2021 Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership - Order from Clearwater Conservancy Information is from the Morton Arboretum Plants come in pots 5" x 2.75" x 9"KEY REFERENCESGrowth speed is ranked into five categories from Slow to FastSun Needs are indicated by Full Sun, Partial Shade and Full Shade symbols.

(Tried to copy the pdf diagram but failed )